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posted by Jiri Wagner
Designed in the late 1950s, the A-6 is an all-weather long-range carrierborne attack aircraft able to operate by day or night. The first of six YA-2F1 prototypes flew on April 19, 1960 with the first of 482 production A-6As being delivered to the US Navy beginning in 1963. The Intruder played a large role in the Vietnam war, flying over 35,000 combat sorties by 1973.
The definitive version is the A-6E which includes an APQ-148 multi-mode Doppler radar with terrain mapping and track-while-scan capabilities. Included beneath the nose radome is a laser spot tracker and laser ranger and designator. All A-6Es in service are due to be retired by the year 2000.
General characteristics |
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| Primary function | carrierborne attack aircraft | |
| Contractor | Grumann Aerospace Corp. | |
| Power plant | Two Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8B non-afterburning turbojets | |
| Thrust | 2x 9,300 lb | 2x 41.3 kN |
| Wingspan | 53 ft | 16.15 m |
| Length | 54 ft 9 in | 16.69 m |
| Height | 16 ft 2 in | 4.93 m |
| Wingarea | 528.8 ft q. | 49.13 m q. |
| Max. takeoff weight | 58,600 lb | 26,580 kg |
| Initial climb rate | 127 ft/s | 38.7 m/s |
| Ceiling | 47,500 ft | 14,480 m |
| Max. speed | 648 mph | 1,043 km/h |
| Range | 1,815 miles | 2,920 km |
| Armament | Up to 18,000 lb including free-fall bombs, AGM-65 Maverick ASMs, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AGM-84E SLAMs, AGM-88 HARMs, or four drop tanks | |
| Crew | Two | |
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